Falling In Love With 150BPM – Samantha’s Story

We’d like to welcome Canadian writer and Hardstyle enthusiast Samantha Grobler to the Alive At Night team! To introduce this fresh face to our community, she has published her story about how she got sucked into the beloved 150BPM and which artists are her favourite! Do you resonate with Sam’s story? Let us know in the comments below!

It was a very long time ago (okay not THAT long ago, but you get the point) when I first fell in love with hardstyle. I went to my first Hardstyle event when I was 17, which so happened to be Showtek, who were headliners for the night. I vividly remember when the guys stepped on stage; I recall feeling the bass, feeling the beat and I instantly knew that it was love.

Since it was my first time for many things and being the new little raver that I was, some of my friends tried to convince me that I just enjoyed the “festivities.” However, I knew deep down that it was more I bargained for. When I began listening to electronic music, I first began with mainstream EDM, however I was missing the intensity that IS hardstyle. The hard kick and the layers of beats. When you lie in bed just listening to the same 5 songs, I believe it’s more than okay to say you have love for the music and Showtek introduced me to a new world that I couldn’t get enough of, even if I tried!
Somewhere along my musical journey and in my younger years I stopped listening to hardstyle, mostly because my iPod had been stolen and I had to musically reset it, losing all of my former tunes. Most of my friends had turned to EDM and I must admit, there was some of it that actually I enjoyed, however I found my taste developing and branching out into something different again. My musical taste was developing and growing. It’s happened a few times in the past; I just change music styles and that’s that.

So, when my best friend and I were planning our trip to Europe we decided that we wanted to attend a music festival. I came across Hard Island 2015 in Croatia online and I can openly admit that I was completely aware of what I was getting myself into. As soon as I did my due diligence and research, I knew THIS was going to be the first music festival I wanted to go to. Being in my late twenties I didn’t want a typical ‘thing,’ I wanted more… I secretly knew that Hardstyle was calling my name again….

So we went, showing up very late due to well… backpacking in Europe. The wonderful Hard Island staff there took care of us and I am proud to say that I have made some lifelong friends from that moment of tardiness. So, here we are showing up at 12am and I’m downing my pre-drinks like it’s nobody’s business. It wasn’t much but I don’t need much to enjoy Hardstyle. One drink and a few beers throughout the night and I’m pretty much good.

**Sam going wild @ Hard Island Croatia**

I wanted to get in there – I wanted to feel the bass. Poor J, she’s a great bestie and she handled her first hardstyle event like a champ, but MAN was she in for a surprise?! After forcing some Redbull down her throat I dragged her into the crowd with the beloved 150BPM beats blaring loudly. As soon as I heard Wildstylez, I just felt like I was at home; I felt like I had been missing a musical piece of me and things were starting to come together again in this moment. All these years without hardstyle and now hopping right back into it at FULL FORCE. So like your typical gabber I start going pretty much insane, well, from the eyes of an ‘outsider,’ but for a hardstyler this was normal. I couldn’t get over the feeling of dancing my little heart out.

I was back, I was hooked and no one could keep it out of my system.

The next day was even better. By then, J and I were known as the crazy hyper Canadian girls. We didn’t need drugs or alcohol to enjoy this music. Coone started his set and I knew just like that. I was fully in sync and back where my musical heart truly belonged. I knew just like I did at my first Showtek event that this music was my heart and soul, but this time I have no doubts that Hardstyle will be with me forever.

After the festival I listened to Coone and few others non-stop. Mostly Coone though, my friends and family are more than aware of my love affair I have with his music.

I still listen to a lot of other kinds of music, however my heart will always hold a special place for hardstyle. While I know that it is very niche community, they are also very welcoming to anyone who shares the same love for the music. Oh I’m sure there are snobs (as there is in every music genre) but for me… This is solely about the music.

To me… This is Home.

Follow Samantha Grobler:

Twitter: @samiig90